#48. Celebrating ‘Echo’

Today I celebrate Echo’s birthday & the day he came into my family. I thought I would share about him on this day. Echo was one year old when I adopted him from a place Humane Society in Indiana. He was originally found with his 3 sisters in the fall in a hunting area of a State Park in IN, they were about 4-5 months old when found & were starving by the time they were found. No one knows how long they were out there. The shelter that first had them had a bunch of dogs coming in from a hoarder situation & did not have the room or foster homes for these 4 unexpected pups. They reached out to other shelters/humane societies/rescues to see if anyone would take these 4 pups. They said they were Beagle mixes, but when they arrived at the new humane society they were already 20-30 lbs & still had growing to do. I don’t see Beagle at all in them so don’t get that (I have fostered about 5 Beagles & family members had them). They were vaccinated, spayed & neutered & the pups got adopted out pretty quickly. Echo who was “Maxwell” then got adopted with one of his sisters. His new family changed his name to “Zeppelin” but he never knew his name. After about 5-6 months the people returned them both claiming “they were moving.” I have heard that before & sadly often it is an excuse & not the truth. Echo & his sister went to a foster home who had 3-4 other dogs, all smaller. There were a few preteen kids & a teenager in his foster home as well.

I saw Echo (now Maxwell again) on a adoption website & thought no, but kept going back to him. His description said 40 & around 1 year old, & his description seemed to sound like a possible match. He actually was being fostered with the same Humane Society that Hunter (my other dog) was adopted from. I had been approved once so if he was a match, then I could adopt. I had a friend go with me & we loaded up a 2nd crate & Hunter & headed for a 3 1/2 hour drive to meet Echo. I had already selected the name & honestly I didn’t think he was a Lab/hound mix like it said in his bio. I thought Border Collie or some herding dog . One of the most important things for me was that my dogs were buddies. Hunter is reserved at first, but if he doesn’t like a dog or person I was pretty good at picking up on that. None of my previous dogs were buddies, roommates & tolerated each other, but didn’t play or lay with each other. I found that sad & didn’t want that again. When I first saw Echo he came out with a stuffed toy in his mouth & he was definitely bigger than 40 lbs (more like 50). I was not sure I wanted 2 dogs bigger than 40 lbs, so I was on the fence. When we introduced the dogs Hunter was interested & Echo, but not his style to play right away. Echo was even more interested & was trying to get Hunter to engage in play. No issues or aggression with either dog & they got to run around a pole barn together.

I’m not sure exactly why, (I trust my gut)but I decided I wanted to give this a try for a few days, so I asked if I could take him home & see how it goes. Echo’s sister had left the day before for an overnight at a new home & they were adopting her. We loaded up Echo & that was May of 2022 & I can’t believe it has been 3 years. We have had some challenges & he suffers from separation anxiety & will probably be crated for the rest of his life when no one is around to watch him. He shreds all the bedding I put in his crate, so don’t give him anything new very often. He de-stuffed every dog bed I had (probably 6 all together) & finally he is growing out of that. He chewed on & started to destuff about 4 comforters in my home. My plan is to go tomorrow & get him a new bed for his birthday. I bought him an inflatable one last year, but its in the basement & he’s only there when I am down there. He is a shadow dog, laying on the futon across from me now as I type, he likes to be able to be where I am or at least be able to see me easily.

He is a smart dog, that is what was so sad about the home that first adopted him, they never taught him anything, not sit, lay, shake or even his name. I don’t know if he was crated there, but if not I can’t imagine the damage they caused, which is why I really think he was returned. The teenage girl in his foster home (he was only there for 5-6 days) she taught him to sit & shake, she commented he was smart. He now knows how to sit, stand, lay, spin & can play keys on a baby plastic piano, press an easy button & is pretty good about untangling his leash while we are on a walk. He knows ‘kennel up” means time to go in his crate.

Echo & Hunter are great buddies, they can even chew on a bone at the same time, which is not common nor do I recommend it to most people. They lay on or next to each other a lot & Echo cleans Hunters ears quite often. I take Echo on desensitizing & counter conditioning outings without Hunter & Hunter is not happy, visa versa when I walk Hunter so he has some one on one time with me. They both prefer they both are with me. Echo is reactive with other dogs, so we are working on positive associations when he sees other dogs. I am currently reading a book called BAT 2.0 https://amzn.to/45msCM3 written by Grisha Stewart (Behavior Adjustment Training). It is her second book & I thought it was neat that in her book,she writes she doesn’t recommend her first book, she says she has learned so much that it is outdated. I like someone who is willing to keep learning positive ways to make things be better & admits that they are still learning. I am about 1/2 way through reading it & I watch some great trainers online like https://happyhoundsdogtraining.com which is one of my favorite trainers to watch on YouTube, Stephanie lives in Canada & she mostly works with reactive dogs.

Having a reactive dog is tough, my last dog was reactive, but not this reactive & she redirected easily. We have had some good moments when out and about but also some set backs. We were camping this past weekend & we had a couple times where he stayed under threshold & a couple where we expectantly came across dogs where there was not space to give him the room he needed. No interactions, but I had to move him away quickly. I am 90% sure his issues are fear based & once he knows he is safe he relaxes. I am afraid a person in the neighborhood teased him with their dog outside the fence when I was not out there, because he was not like this at first & I have never had a bad interaction with a dog with him. I have a cemetery behind my house & have people walking dogs back there quite frequently. I am grateful we have made progress & I can call him inside if he sees a dog & he seems relieved like I rescued him from that strange dog. He has made friends with a few friendly dogs & hope to get to do that with more dogs as I work with him & may look for a B.A.T. trainer after I read the book.

I can hardly believe Echo is 4 & how fast time has flown by, We have been on some adventures together, & more to come. We camp (he is scared of the fire in the fire pit, but loves sleeping in the tent), we hike, we have been on 3 road trip vacations & another (longest/furthest) will be the end of August. He likes to swim a little or at least lay in the water. He is very protective of me & doesn’t like strangers near me & not a fan of strange men, it takes him a while to trust new guys. I

In case you were wondering I had his DNA done & he is 22% Miniature American Shepherd (looks like an Aussie), 16% American Pit Bull Terrier, 16% Irish Setter, 15% Australian Shepherd, 11% Boxer, 8% American Staff. Terrier, 6% Lab, 4% Siberian Husky, 1% Chow Chow, 1% Collie

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ECHO

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